The senators openly condemned everyone who says the war is unwinnable, citing their ostensible “success” in throwing ever increasing numbers of troops at the war in Iraq and declaring that any other route but escalation is a “recipe for disaster” and vowed to “stand with the President” in keeping the war going despite popular opposition.

Ultimately though, the battle lines in Congress are not between the hawks and the antiwar crowd, for despite polls showing the vast majority of Americans wanting out of the eight year old conflict now there is precious little support for that in Congress. Rather, it is a battle between those who want to dramatically escalate the failing war with more troops and those who think sending more troops in unwise but rather keeping the current war going and throwing more money at the Afghan government is the road to success. Either way, Americans likely have several more years of conflict and “new” strategies in Afghanistan.